Editorial: Today’s a good day for Pennsylvanians to give gift of life

The Issue:

It’s Valentine’s Day and National Donor Day, both celebrations of love.

Our Opinion:

If you haven’t already, consider signing up as an organ donor.

Happy Valentine's Day, a holiday associated more with romantic love than with the third century saint known for restoring a girl's sight and leaving her a note on the day of his execution signed, “Your Valentine.”

Another legend concerning the saint says that Valentine, defying Roman emperor Claudius II Gothicus, secretly married couples to spare their husbands from war.

It is likely that, although St. Valentine of Rome was a martyr rather than a romantic figure, his Feb. 14 feast day was meant to replace the pagan holiday of Lupercalia, an ancient Roman fertility festival celebrated on Feb. 15.

While his status is considered too mythic for the Roman Catholic Church's General Roman Calendar, Valentine is still considered a saint, the patron of engaged couples, beekeepers, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers and young people.

Since 1998, his holiday has been adopted for another good cause: organ donation.

National Donor Day, begun in 1998, has the support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Health Resources and Services Administration and many nonprofit health organizations. The HRSA encourages people, in the loving spirit of this day, to “share some love by signing up as organ, eye and tissue donors.”

As Pam Kania, the agency's regional administrator in Philadelphia, puts it: “Signing up is like sending a valentine to the nearly 114,000 people currently on the national transplant waiting list. One donor can save up to eight lives and enhance the lives of up to 50 individuals.”

Becoming a donor is easy. Thanks to the Gift of Life Donor Program — a partnership of PennDOT and the state Department of Health in cooperation with the Center for Organ Recovery and Education — Pennsylvanians can have the “Organ Donor” designation printed on their driver's licenses or state identification cards at no extra charge.

Not yet time to renew your license or ID? You can register as an organ donor online by visiting bit.ly/PaOrganDonorSignup, a process that takes less than 90 seconds. A confirmation card will be sent confirming your registration.

To learn about the impact organ donations have, on recipients and their families, visit the Gift of Life Donor Program online at www.donors1.org or Pennsylvania's DonateLifePA.org.

The latter website makes a strong pitch for taking the step to sign up, noting that:

While 95 percent of people say they support organ donation, only 48 percent of Pennsylvanians are registered as donors.

Each day, 20 people in the U.S. die while waiting for an organ transplant and every 10 minutes, another person's name is added to the national transplant waiting list.

More than 8,000 people in Pennsylvania are on that list.

Organ donors last year alone made more than 33,000 lifesaving transplants possible. And 1 million people received tissue transplants that gave them a better quality of life.

There is no cost to donors or their families for organ or tissue donation.

All major religions in the United States support organ and tissue donation.

It's easy. It's cost-free. And you can save lives. Sign up as an organ donor and give the gift of life this Valentine's Day.